Thursday, December 14, 2006

My kids sometimes watched the PBS children's show "Arthur," but I'd never really paid any attention to it. Until today. Today I watched an episode, and I have to say, I was appalled by what I saw.

"Arthur" is about a bunch of animals who go around wearing clothes and acting like people. Although I'm not fond of such shameless anthropomorphizing, that's not what I find disturbing about the show. The real problem is how these animals act. First of all, Arthur, the main character, is an aardvark. Aardvarks are African animals. Take a look at this picture:

Does that look like an African to you? Me neither. It looks like an American. And not an African American either, if you get my drift. That's more than a little odd, don't you think?

Now take a look at this character:
That's Arthur's friend Binky. He's not a hippopotamus, as I thought for years, so it's OK that he doesn't look African. But Binky is a dog. What's wrong with that, you ask? This is what's wrong with it:
That's Arthur's pet dog Pal. Get it? Arthur has a friend who's a dog and a pet who's a dog. But if dogs can walk upright and talk and go to school, how can they be pets? They can't be. What they can be is slaves. Pal is Arthur's slave. This PBS children's show promotes slavery, plain and simple.

And another thing, all these different species go to school together and work together and so on, but have you ever noticed that there are no hybrids in Arthur's world? That's right. The animals in Arthur's world may pretend to get along -- when they aren't enslaving one another -- but at the end of the day they stick to their own kind. Aardvarks marry aardvarks; bunnies marry bunnies; dogs marry dogs; no mixing allowed.

So there you have it. The hidden agenda of this purportedly "wholesome" PBS children's show is revealed: it promotes racism, slavery, and segregation. Disgraceful. My children will never watch "Arthur" again.

Shut up.Its a kid's show.Micky had Pluto. and Goofy was a dog too, wasn't he?i dont see you complaining about Micky, now do I.With Micky and his friends, they didnt get together, did they?They stayed to mice with mice and ducks with ducks.If you're going to complain, make it worth people's time, not about some kid show that means nothing in this world.Complain about Global Warming, or the war.That wouldn't waste everyone's time.:)

come on people it's a KID'S show! kids are not going to think of this in a racist way but just as a show and what about the new mickey mouse show that has come on disney called "mickey mouse culbhouse" mickey still as pluto as a pet and goofy is still a friend but kids who watch this are between the ages of 1 and 9 and i am sure the are not going too much about racistism but that it was between HUMANS not cartoon animals who can TALK because they sould know that is not real.

OKAY, so ARthur doesn't look like an African American? What does an African American look like? He has tan fur, not white, not black, so he is mixed in my opinion. Maybe thats the whole point of using animals to do children's shows. So over analytical, hypersensitive, people who see a racist at every corner can't complain that there aren't too many, or not enough, or not correct, or offensive African American figures in children's shows. Are you referring to his style of dress? So are we to assume that African Americans do not wear jeans and sweaters. Maybe you'd be satisfied if Arthur was given a makeover with jeans down to his knees, a 9 mm in each hand, and a red hankerchief in his back pocket? Or now am I being offensive?

"Maybe thats the whole point of using animals to do children's shows. So over analytical, hypersensitive, people who see a racist at every corner can't complain that there aren't too many, or not enough, or not correct, or offensive African American figures in children's shows."

Youre just making something out of nothing. I think maybe hes tan because aarvarks are tan, good one... also, they use dogs as pets because the children relate to it more... they also use dogs as friends because kids find that fun, because a lot of kids see their own pet dogs as friends too...Lastly did you do biology at school? maybe when your kid grows up a little bit and gets to high school they can explain to you that for the most part species cant interbreed, with a few exceptions. So damn those writers for keeping their show biologically sound... those bastards!

Once again, the walking on two legs makes them easier to relate too. Animals do communicate, each in their own way, which can be viewed as a langauge, however it makes the show more interesting if they speak english instead of growling and hissing at one another. Yes animals cant read, but once again thats just the show taking artistic licence so kids can relate to it, kids can read, these animals can read. kids go to school, these animals go to school. I really do think youre a little too close minded in your views on this one.

Yes, because that's what children think about everytime they watch Arthur- racism. Uh, NO.

You might as well look into Maya And Miguel and complain about it being stereotypcial since they're a Latino family with your generic Latino names.

I mean, really. It's pointless. It's a show made for the entertainment of kids. I'm pretty sure your kids weren't sitting there going "That's racist!" Or anything along the lines of segregation or slavery.

If you have parental block on Arthur, what shows could your kids possibly get to watch?

YOU sir, are mentally retarded. Arthur is a kid's show, meaning FOR CHILDREN. It does not promote the idea of slavery, and many cartoons break the "that doesn't make any sense" barrier. Cartoons don't have to be logical.